Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-12-02
POPULAR SCIENCE.
Various Items OF Iotsrest Gathered from
Hero and There.

One barrel OF lime will lay 1000 brick.
In the Bodleian Library at Oxford faded
Ink Gu parchment, etc, is restored oy
means of solution OF hydrOsulphide of
ammonia.
There is no way TO temper brass except
by hammering. There is no chemical or
heating process for tempering anything
but steel.
Oae plank nine feet wide and twenty
feet lohg, without knot or blemish of any
kind, and another twelve feet wide, are
among the contributions of British Co.
lumbia to the Liverpool Exhibition.
"Biuestone' dissolvei in water will
blscken the surface of sheet zinc so that
it will not rub of. Wetting the surface
Of the zinc and rubbing the bluestone
over it will have the same effect.
There are over 1900 soldiers in the Rus
sian army afflicted with opthalmia in the
hospitals OF the Odessa district alone.
These cases are entirely treated by nurses
and have no skilled medical attendance.
When the power required and the shaft
speed are given, to fad the diameter OF
shaft multiply the given power by $4,000,
divide this prodnct by 600 and the speed,
and the cube root of this quotlent will be
the diameter required.
Gleditschine, not stenocarpine, as the
name Of the new ar R4thetic has been
finally determined, ought to be at once
adopted in place of the incorrect term
"Stenocarpine. The drug, we learn, is
as yet very expensive aud somewhat diff
cult to GET Medical Record.
The "tuchmig" of the Chinese, or Prs-
meria glandulifera of botanists, grows in
Southern India, and has been recon-
mended to the Indian government as q
tree from which large quantities Of
caoutchouc can be drawn. In the South
American tree the caoutchouc flows from
punctures in the bark, but from the new
source the gum is obtained by breaking
the boughs and drawing it out in fills
ments.
The Builder and Wood-Worksr points
out that the color of the mortar used
| with different colors of bricks is sadly
neglected. The effect of pointing red
brick work with white mortar is bad.
Furnace asne- and lime will produce dark
mortar, while red tone may be obtained
by mixing with the lime pounded red
BRICK or red tile. Cheap mineral colors
will produce any desired color for point
ing.
| A newly constructed railroad spike has
a double head, or, more properly speak
| ing, an elongated portion projecting from
| opposite sides of the shank. the under
side OF one projection is lower than that
of the other, the portion which is lower
! being provided with an edge IN the direc-
ton of its length, whereby the portion
may be more easily imbedded in the tie or
sleeper, while the other portion of the
| head engages the rail.
! It is said that embossed ornamentation
or embo -sed gilt lettering on glass as
| done by hydrofuOric acid can be closely
initiated by painting In the design with
rather thick damar varnish, wster-glass,
| Canada oalsam (Ghinned with turpentlne,
if required or a solution Of gum arabic
| A little sugar Of lead introduced into the
vehicle used will produce a grounds lass
effect. Colors may be used and gliding
put ov r the design if desired.
| It is claimed that very bright surface
! which resembles mother Of-pearl finish
may be given to paper by pursuing the
following directions: A very concentrated
| cold solution of salt is mixed with deX-
trine, End thin Coating of the
! fluid laid on the surface of the paper by
means of q broad, soft brush. 1t is then
allowed to dry. The most advantageous
salts are sulphate of tin, sulphste of
magnesia and acetate of soda. It Is
necessary for the paper TO DE sized first,
or il will absorb the liquid and prevent
crystalline formations.
Where the unframed eye will see moth
| ing but mire and dirt, says Sir John Lu D
book, science will often reveal exquisite
possibilities. The mud we tresd under
our feet IN the street is grimy mixture
of clay and sand, SCOT and Wster. Sep
arate the sand, however, as Ruskln
Observes-let the atoms arrange
themselves in peace according to
their nature-ard you have the opal.
Separate the clay and it becomes q
white earth, tit for the finest porcelain; or
if it still further purifes Itself, you have
q sapphire. Take the SCOT, and If prop
erly treated it will give you diamond
While, lastly, the water, purified and dis
titled, will become deWdrOp or crystal
lie into lovely star. Or again you msy
see in shallow pool either the mad lying
st the bottom or the imsge OF the sky
above.
Experiments are being made on Prus-
sian railways with axle boxes fitted with
bearings Of vegetable parchment in place
of orass. The parchment is strongly
compressed before being used, and it is
thoroughly dried to prevent subsequent
sArinkage. Wooden rings are placed or
the outside of the bearings, f.
ting the collars OF the journal
An emulsion of water and oil
and all the mineral oils are ased as lubrl
cants The parchment soon becomes I'M
Ipregnated with the oil and is able to go ,
long time without renewal OF luorica
: ton. II is between the body Oh th'
journal and the thin edge of the parch-
ment segments that friction takes place
! The claim is made that these compressed
paper bearings make q tough materis
} that is superior to natal. Such bearing
: are also ia use in German saw mill
! with satisfactory operation.
The SJciete Industrielle, of Brussels
? has constructed q new accumulator, th
invention OF III. famine, a civil engineer
The element is composed Of number o
connected plates for positive and thil
r sheet OF lead, one nm. Zone twenty -ftt
D iBch) in thickness, for negative. The 70
E lowing is the composition c
] the liquid: Saturated solutio
Eof zinc sulDnste, l00e parts
e sulphuric acid, 500 parts; ammonium su
3 nhste, so parts, and mGrcurous sulphate
{ 80 parts. Tue solution c. mercury en-
0 ammonium sulpaases are ffss prepared
e Is is poured into acid, and the zinc SUI
e phate is sitter ward added. Tue cleo
{ tro-motive force is 2 3 volts. The ele